White Canvas
by choikimmy
Summary: [AU] in which Erza has anterograde amnesia; the inability to make or retain new memories, and in one way or another, the inability to ever remember her new neighbour, Jellal Fernandes.
1. Chapter 1

**White Canvas**

_jellal/erza; t, angst.  
_

_~ in which Erza has anterograde amnesia; the inability to make or retain new memories, _

_and in one way or another, the inability to ever remember her new neighbour, Jellal Fernandes._

disclaimer! i own none of these characters, only the plotline.

my inspirations to write this are 50 first dates, and Changdictator's Anterograde Tomorrow.

* * *

_Good morning, Erza. _

_You met with an accident two years ago. As a result, you are suffering from anterograde amnesia; a disability which does not allow you to create new memories. But do not worry, all that you need to know can be found in this journal—it contains just about all the memories you have collected this year thus far, all the important details of events which had occurred, and many photographs for better recognition. You will be fine. Have a great day ahead! _

_Love, Erza._

* * *

It was seven in the morning when her alarm rang, and it was seven-thirty by the time she was done flipping through the leather journal lying by her pillow. It took her quite some time to perceive what was going on, but by the last unwritten page of her journal, Erza Scarlet had fully understood the unfortunate incident that had happened to her.

_That explains a lot about the emptiness in my mind about yesterday, _she thought to herself as she glanced on the page of the latest entry: 10th February 2014. Nothing much happened yesterday, she concluded, just daily routines and extra reminders on what she was supposed to do today. Erza closed her eyes and inhaled, soothing her mind as she does so. _It's been two years, huh? _

A flash of distorted memory rushed across her mind. Erza could feel her heartbeat doubled upon the sudden remembrance of the ill-fate that had been the cause of her disability. The bright red tractor and its blinding lights, the loud honks which seem endless at that time, the ear piercing scream…

They were the last memories in her mind before everything went blank.

* * *

A huge corkboard on the wall by the door—that was the first thing Erza had noticed when she made her way across her bedroom. She stopped by in curiosity, marvelling at the various photographs and notes pinned on the board. A smile found its way towards her lips when she saw the familiar face of Mirajane Strauss, her best friend from high school, standing beside a blond man who as far as Erza had remembered, was the senior quarterback of their school. _What was his name again? _Erza frowned just as her eyes landed on the note right below the photograph. _Oh, right. Laxus Dreyar! Wait, what? Mira and Laxus are married?!_

Sure enough, the note which Erza recognized as her own handwriting glared directly at her. She was grinning by the time she reached the end of the note, both joyous and awestruck at the thought of her best friend being married to the athlete of her former high school. Erza recalled faintly the memory of Mirajane when she was seventeen and how she was literally fawning over the famous jock of Magnolia High School, how every other teenage girls were equally obsessed with the young man. To think Mira would be the one who caught his attention in the end!

But it was then that the smile faded from Erza's lips. Had she been there on Mira's happiest day? How did the ceremony go? Was Mira wearing her dream bridal dress she had vowed to when she was eighteen? Was Erza the bridesmaid for Mira? Erza was beginning to feel as though she was about to burst into tears when she spotted another note below the note she had read previously.

_There is no use being all upset about not remembering! _

_If you are curious, there's a pink folder in your desk drawer specifically labelled to be Mira's wedding._

_ Take a look when you want to! –Erza_

She chuckled to herself. Indeed there was no point for her to be all sappy over something she cannot change. Erza made a mental note to check the folder later on, her eyes now travelling to another photograph of a man and a lady of her own age. Recognizing the lady as an acquaintance from high school, Erza proceeded to read the note which came along with the photograph; _You remember Cana Alberona right? She was in our maths class in senior year. The man beside her is her father, Gildarts. We're actually working for him at this current moment as a waitress. That is basically the only job we can do given our condition. Gildarts and Cana are really nice though. They care and they understand. –Erza_

"A waitress doesn't seem too bad," Erza mumbled to herself with a faint smile. She scanned the board for any other important notes or trivia (like how her favourite bakery has shifted place few months ago) and proceeded out from her bedroom when she realized it was almost time for her to go to work.

_It's going to be a good day! _Erza mentally told herself as she stepped out from her apartment. Fumbling with her keys, she barely noticed the pile of boxes beside her unit. When she finally looked up from her set of keys, she was surprised to see a young man with blue hair standing just a few steps from her, a box in his hands as he stopped to smile at Erza. "Good morning." He greeted politely and Erza nodded back in response. "Good morning."

There was a lapse of silence before the man cleared his throat and placed the box back on the floor. "How rude of me," He laughed slightly before jutting out a hand. "I'm Jellal and I'm guessing that you're my neighbour?"

"Erza," She accepted his handshake with a smile. "And I guess so too."

"Well…I probably should get back to moving these into the apartment." Jellal shrugged at the boxes around his feet. "It was nice meeting you though. I hope I'll see you around?"

Erza froze, remembering her condition. She contemplated whether she should tell him, opting finally for another time as she nodded her head. "It was nice meeting you too. Have fun moving those in."

And that was the first time Erza ever met Jellal Fernandes.

* * *

Surprised that it did not take Erza a long time to find her workplace, she entered Fairy Tail Café with a bright smile on her face, eager to see Cana and Gildarts and eager to start her day productively. As there were no customers yet, Erza spotted Cana behind the counter almost immediately, waving to her in a friendly manner and having Cana wave back when the latter saw her. "Someone's a little chirpy this morning," Cana teased, somewhat relieved that her friend was in a good mood today. There were days when Erza would step into the café not knowing what to do, or being extremely terrified with her surroundings. There were also days when Cana had to calm her down and assured her that everything had been and would be alright. Cana was simply glad that Erza was being the Erza she had known since high school and before the accident which robbed her of her happiness. "What happened? Did you meet a heartthrob or strike the lottery?"

"Let's just say I got off the right side of bed today." The scarlet-haired lady said with a positive expression. "And let's just say that I did indeed meet a heartthrob today."

Cana stopped polishing the glass in her hands, interested at the remark her friend has made. "Really? Who? Where?"

"He's a new neighbour with weird blue hair…" Erza recalled the meeting of Jellal and smiled unconsciously. "But he's really friendly. I think he'll make a good neighbour."

"Ohh…interesting," Cana grinned just as she spotted her father walking out from the storeroom. "Hey pops, Erza met a guy today. She said he's cute."

Erza blushed. "I never said he was cute—"

"That's nice to hear, Erza darling." Gildarts winked from his position. "But did you tell him about your amnesia?"

Upon hearing that, Cana nearly threw the glass in her hands at her absolutely dense father. "Pops! Sheesh!"

Erza laughed, surprisingly the brunette. "I haven't yet. I might tell him soon, but not now."

"I want to see him someday. You should bring him over next time after you two are acquainted." Gildarts smiled encouragingly, ignoring his daughter's steely glare. To Cana's amusement though, Erza nodded her head and smiled. "Sure do. One day, perhaps."

Gildarts grinned back just as two figures entered the café. "Yo old man!"

"Hey Natsu, Lucy." Gildarts smirked. "You two are seriously coming together more often now, huh? Anything going on between you two that I should know of?"

The blond who entered beside the young man named Natsu blushed before waving her hands vigorously. "N-no, nothing's going on!" Lucy then saw her fellow workmate looking attentively at her from Cana's counter, and she quickly shifted her attention towards her. "Erza! Hi!"

"Hello, Lucy." Erza greeted warmly, remembering the photograph of this young lady in her journal and the label of "friends and workmate" underneath.

"What about me, Erza? Who am I?" Natsu pretended to whine and earned a jab from Lucy in his stomach in return. "Don't be rude, Natsu!"

Erza stifled a giggle. "It's alright, Lucy. I remember you, Natsu Dragneel. You and Lucy are a few of those people I would never forget."

Natsu grinned widely. "That's the spirit! Now let's clean up this place before old man Gildarts complain we don't do anything again." Right after finishing his sentence, Natsu ducked quickly to avoid Gildarts flying notebook, laughing heartily as he disappeared into the kitchen. "Call me an old man again and I will kick you out of the café!"

Lucy shook his head and sighed. "Tell me why am I friends with that idiot again?"

Cana feigned a loud cough that seems to sound something like "because you like him," but Lucy did not catch that. Erza, however, did. They both exchanged a glance and smiled amongst themselves again. "I hope you'll find today a delight, Erza." Cana winked and resumed her previous task of polishing the glasses on the counter.

"I've already found it, Cana." Erza replied instantaneously with yet another smile as she looked around her. "This place is perfect."

* * *

The second time of Erza's first time meeting Jellal was the following morning. She woke up before her alarm rang, giving her some spare time before having to go to work. As usual, she reads the journal which was lying by her pillow obediently, and this time, concluded that she needs to catch a breath of fresh air. Erza headed out towards her veranda, finding solace in the morning light and the flock of birds that flew by. She wondered what she did yesterday; was seeking solace required? From her latest entry, she read that it was a good day yesterday, but basically that was all she had written. She sincerely wished the yesterday her had written more in her entry, but nonetheless, knowing that her day went well yesterday was good enough.

If only she could remember.

Erza turned around to head back into her comforts of her home, but halted when she saw a young man on his own veranda belonging to the unit beside hers. There was a pause before the man saw her, and he nodded curtly at her. "Good morning, Erza-san. What a beautiful day, isn't it?"

_Who the heck is this guy? Since when is anyone living beside me?_

"Umm…" Erza hesitated, "I suppose so."

The lack of enthusiasm from Erza made the young man frown. He studied the expression of the scarlet-headed woman, not quite understanding why she was looking at him in such a foreign manner. Hadn't they met yesterday morning? "Are you alri—"

Before he could finish his sentence though, the woman rushed back inside without another word said. He merely stared at the empty space of her veranda in confusion. _Er, what just happened?_

He got his answer later in the evening, when he bumps into her again and she clarifies an issue about her with him. He merely looked at her sceptically, somewhat intrigued as she shrugged at his indifference. "It's up to you if you want to believe it. I'm telling the truth though." The female disappeared into her house, leaving Jellal to form his own conclusion. He figured he would always know of the answer tomorrow, so he went inside his house as well and decided not to think about his weird new neighbour.

Jellal spent the whole night thinking about her, though.

* * *

"Wow, so you weren't joking about your amnesia thing."

The sudden voice which greeted her made Erza looked up alarmingly, her eyes meeting with that of the blue-haired man she had just met in the lobby of the elevator. "What?"

The man was now bearing an expression Erza knew was a mixture of amusement and sympathy, and that somewhat annoys her. This stranger appeared so abruptly, and he was already judging her? "I'm sorry, have we met before this?"

"Do you have your phone with you?" The man promptly asked, ignoring her question as Erza raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Yes, I do. Why?"

"Let me borrow your phone for a second. Please?" He half-smiled and half-pleaded, and Erza found it difficult to refuse his request. She passed him her phone, preparing to launch herself at him should he decide to run off with her gadget. But he didn't, and she remains rooted on the ground. The elevator arrives just then, and he gets on without waiting for her. She rushes behind him, still wondering what he was doing with her phone.

It was the shutter sound of her phone camera that made her realize what he was up to. The young man grinned as he passed back her phone a few seconds after. "My name is Jellal Fernandes, and I am your new neighbour. With my picture in your gallery, you should be able to remember me now, right?"

Erza unconsciously blushed, but she said nothing.

"It's important to remember." Jellal winked, a goofy smile on his face as the red-head found her face heating up. She quickly looked away after nodding, and as the elevator reached their floor, she left as quickly as possible without looking back. Although she reached her unit first, Erza (pretended to) fumble with her keys again, just to stall time for her new neighbour to reach his own unit. She then stole a glance at him, watching the way he unlocked his door with fascination, but quickly glanced back down when he suddenly looked at her.

"Something wrong with your lock?" He asked out of politeness, and Erza shook her head immediately. "N-no."

Pause.

"It's just that…" Erza felt a lump on her throat. "It's been a while."

"For?"

"To have a neighbour."

Erza looked up fully and met his gaze. This time though, she smiled genuinely. "It's important to remember, right?"

Jellal chuckled, amused. "Yes, it is."

That was the third of their first time meeting, and Erza vowed to herself, the last.

* * *

**a/n:** I was inspired to write the concept of "Anterograde Amnesia" from 50 first dates, and Changdictator's Anterograde Tomorrow (a kpop fanfic). The contents and plotline are not the same, of course. Only the concept. Concrits are very much welcomed, and I hope you'll drop reviews too. Will be updating soon. This is just a three-shot though, meaning it will end at Chapter 3. :) Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**2.**

* * *

Sure enough, the next time Erza checked her huge corkboard, there was a new note pinned on it. It was a rather unfamiliar note, and from her instinct and subconscious mind, Erza was sure that it had not existed before this.

_You have a new neighbour. His name is Jellal Fernandes. He has blue hair and a weird (but pretty cool) tattoo on his face. You should say hi to him when you see him. Oh right, there's a photo of him in our phone gallery. He took it himself when he found out about our amnesia. Weird guy, but overall, he's quite decent. Maybe we should be friends with him. I think some company is overdue around here. -Erza_

Instinctively, Erza reached for her phone and browsed through her gallery. It did not take her long to find her new neighbour's photograph, and Erza found herself staring at the young man in blue hair. There was something about him that Erza could not pinpoint, but the more she stares into the photograph, the more she found herself intrigued to become his friend. Her illness would be a hindrance, of course, but if Jellal—the name sounded so foreign in her mind as she repeated his name, this time, aloud—if_ Jellal _was willing to be patient, Erza would be willing to befriend him too.

Erza glanced at her journal on her bed, sprinting towards it in realization before flipping the pages into her latest entry again. She must have missed out reading about Jellal in her entry; it wouldn't make sense if yesterday's Erza did not write anything about him, right? Proving herself right, there was a p/s she had indeed missed out this morning:

_Be sure to check your corkboard. There's something new on it that I've pinned just five minutes ago. It's important to remember. _

"It's important to remember," Erza repeated the line mentally over and over again. She frowned. "It's important to remember." This time, she said the sentence out loud, hoping to grasp the sudden feeling that was swirling in her mind and refusing to leave unless she understands what was behind the message.

Erza gave up trying to decipher the sentence after a few minutes. As she stared at the newly pinned pink colour note from her bed though, she could more or less guess that that message had something to do with her new neighbour.

* * *

It was Erza's off day that day, and as she went around cleaning her home and looking at past memories in her notebooks, the sound of her doorbell ringing made her jumped from her seat. Erza got up and headed towards the door, opening it to find the least expected person by her doorstep. "Umm…hi?" He said uncertainly, and Erza felt her heart raced.

So this was Jellal Fernandes.

"Jel…lal, right?" She hesitated to call out his name, but when she saw how he broke into a grin, it made her somewhat happy she got it right.

"You remembered!" He sounded so genuine and sincere, that Erza couldn't help but to laugh shyly. "I guess so."

"You told me today is your day off, so I decided to drop by." Jellal said, still smiling. "Just to see how you're doing. Er, I'm a random person, if you haven't realized yet."

Erza chuckled before inviting her neighbour in. "I'll make sure to take a note about that." She disappeared into the kitchen to make some tea, and Jellal decided to make himself at home by sitting on her couch in the living room. He was humming a tune when Erza returned with a tray in her hands. She set the tray on the coffee table and prompted him to drink. "Please help yourself," She said softly, still trying to fathom that there was a guest in her home.

"You've got a nice home," Jellal nodded, his eyes scanning the four walls of her house before settling his gaze on her in the end. She was beautiful, he thought to himself, such a shame though. "So…what do you normally do?"

Erza took a sip from her own tea slowly, stalling as much time as she could before realizing that she was being rude for not answering. "I wake up, browse through my journal, go to work and then I come home."

"Why are you staying alone? Where are your…" Jellal's sentence trails off as he noticed the sudden sombre look on the red-head's face. "I'm sorry," He quickly added, hoping that he had no offended her.

"It's okay." She answered with a small smile. "I lost my parents when I was young. My aunt took care of me until I was old enough to fed for myself, then she left too."

Jellal felt a pang of sadness, guilty for bringing up a sensitive topic. He quickly drank his tea, not knowing what to say; afraid that he might say something wrong again.

"Sometimes I wake up not believing it is already 2014. It still feels like 2012 to me." Erza confessed, effectively changing the topic from her deceased family to her personal emotions. "It's still a shock, to be honest."

The blue haired male sat quietly in his seat, his eyes never leaving the female in front of him. "The last I remembered were blinding lights and piercing screams. And then I woke up and it's two years later each day." Erza couldn't help but feel her heart pound against her chest. She has never opened up to anyone about her feelings before (or at least, that was what she concluded from all her journal entries), but somehow, with Jellal, she felt as though she could tell him all her secrets and it will remain safe with him.

It was weird, this feeling.

"It's terrible, isn't it?" Jellal sighed and Erza looked up to see his sad expression. "You being caught in time, but time moves forward each day. You don't remember who comes and who leaves, or what you've done, and what you should have done."

"It is." Erza said softly, her head dropped low as she stares at the cup of tea in her hands.

"Do you have any friends?" Jellal asked, relieved when she nodded her head a second later.

"I do. Her name is Mirajane. But…"

"But?"

"I don't remember the last time she's called." Erza forced a smile. "And I don't want her to be burdened with my condition."

A wave of silence washed over them. Jellal wished he was better with words, anything to cheer her up, he definitely need them. His mother used to tell him that if he made a girl sad, he wasn't a true man. And here he was, doing exactly what his mother had warned him not to.

"I'm sorry." He finally said, not knowing what else he could say.

"Whatever for?" Erza asked, surprised at the sudden apology.

"For making you sad," Jellal placed the cup back onto the tray. "Maybe I should go…"

"It doesn't matter." She assured him quickly before putting on another smile. "I won't remember about this tomorrow anyway."

As assuring as Erza had tried to be, that statement only caused Jellal's heart to break even more than it already has.

* * *

"What's the last memory you have before you forgot everything?"

It was three days later when Jellal decided to ask the inevitable. By then, he has established a self-proclaimed title of her new best friend, and he made sure to drop by every day after her working hours. When Erza opened the door today, Jellal had a sheepish smile on his face as he said the sentence he had been practicing in his head over and over again. "Hi, I'm Jellal Fernandes, your new neighbor. I think I'm…somewhere on your board and in your journal?"

Erza was startled, but she nodded her head and invited him in. "I read about you this morning."

After settling down on the couch with Erza seated opposite of him, Jellal asked the question that had been lingering in his mind. He was curious; what was this girl before she lost all her memory?

"Blinding lights and pierc—"

"No, not that." Jellal shook his head firmly. "Before that. Before the accident. What was your life before this?"

It was rude for him to pry, but Jellal figured this was the only way he could do to help her. And for some unknown reasons, he really did want to help her. It was only right that he did, even if he just met her. Jellal wasn't going to lie, but since the first time he has laid his eyes on her, he knew his life wasn't going to be same anymore.

"Laughter and happiness." Erza smiled at the memory that was fresh in her mind. "I had just entered university for Law, and everything was going well. Mirajane was in theatrical, and she was doing fine too." Slowly, Jellal noticed that Erza's smile was fading. "But then the accident happened, and…I don't know the events after that."

Erza couldn't help but notice that he was writing whatever she had said down on a notepad. "What are you doing?"

"Taking down notes." Jellal said in full honesty. "I want to help you, Erza."

"But why?" Erza asked in confusion. She did not quite understand why Jellal was even bothering to talk to her in the first place. "I won't be able to remember—"

"It's important to remember." Jellal insisted, and Erza suddenly recalls the sentence in an entry she has read not long ago. "How do you cope with directions? Do you have to relearn them every day, like walking to your workplace, for example?"

"It's in my subconscious mind, I guess. I haven't had the need to remember because my legs would bring me towards that place automatically each morning. Perhaps it's because I've been working there for two years, as what Cana had told me."

Jellal scribbled furiously into his notepad.

"How are you…going to help me, Jellal?" Erza asked in a small voice, and the young man glanced up and smiled at her direction. "I'll find a way for you to be happy."

Erza wasn't certain what made her do it, but she leaned forward and hugged the young man gently. Jellal froze upon the touch; he could feel his heart skipped a beat. "Thank you, Jellal."

* * *

A few knocks were heard on a Saturday as Jellal got up from his couch to answer the door. When he opened it, he was not at all surprised to find the scarlet-haired young woman smiling up at him. "Good morning, Jellal."

"I see that you've done your homework," Jellal nodded towards the leather journal Erza was holding close to her heart. He smiled encouragingly at her and she grinned. "I did. And according to the latest entry, you said you're going to take me to a really good bakery today."

"You actually wrote that in your journal?" Jellal chuckled, reaching to his left for his coat. "Looks like I have no choice then."

He kept his promise and took her to the new bakery he had found just recently. He smiled when he saw her smiled. He laughed when he heard her laughed. "One strawberry cake please!" She had ordered without even looking at the menu, and Jellal shook his head at how much Erza loved the said dessert. It was, according to her, something her mother used to bake for her on her birthday, and something she grew to love even more when her mother passed away. When Erza took the first bite of the bakery's strawberry cake, she had tears in her eyes. "It's been a while since I last ate one," She explained. "This is really delicious. You're right about this bakery being the best in town now."

Jellal watched her eat her cake with so much joy that it made him just as happy, even though he was not eating any dessert. He did not realize that the more time he was spending with her, the more he was drawn towards her every feature, her every smile and her every laughter. He yearned for her voice, the way her eyes would sparkle when she was happy, the way she tried so hard to smile when she was upset over something.

Jellal did not realize, that he was falling in love.

* * *

Another day after their adventure to the bakery, Erza took Jellal for a visit to Fairy Tail café. She wanted to introduce him to her friends, to Gildarts—the closest figure she had to a father, just because. She wanted them to know of the person who has been helping her these past few weeks. Erza couldn't explain in proper words, but whenever she was with Jellal, she felt whole again. Reading about him in her entries made her smiled. It was stupid to think that way, but she felt a lot happier with the presence of her new friend.

"Erza!" Cana called out, her eyes widened at the young man beside her. "Is that…?"

"Cana, this is Jellal. Jellal, this is Cana." Erza quickly introduced the two to each other, and before Jellal and Cana could shake hands, Natsu was already by her side. "Erza! Who is this?"

Afterwards, when they were walking back, Jellal told Erza that he wanted to meet Mirajane. "Mira?" Erza hesitated. Something in her mind was telling her that she shouldn't call Mira, but there was another part which longed for her to see her best friend again.

"I have to meet your best friend, at least once." Jellal shrugged nonchalantly, but behind his façade was a strategy for the two best friends to meet again. Jellal wasn't sure of the details, but he was quite positive that Erza had been the one who deliberately shut herself out from their friendship. "Don't you want to see your best friend again? I know you do, because you have her picture up on your board."

Erza was quiet for a long time. She only spoke again when they reached their apartment. "I'll give her a call tomorrow morning. Remind me, if I forget."

"No pun intended," Erza quickly added when she saw the way Jellal was fighting back a smile. "Maybe I should record you saying that, so that you don't accuse me of lying tomorrow in case you forget to write down in your journal." Jellal teased, and Erza felt herself blushing for no apparent reason.

He did force her to repeat what she said though, and recorded it using his phone. "There, I now have evidence!" Jellal grinned. "Just in case you decide to bail tomorrow."

* * *

Meeting Mirajane Strauss was a delight for both Erza and Jellal. The best friend of the scarlet-haired young woman was over the moon when she saw Erza for the first time in months that she nearly flew out from her chair to hug her. "Erza, you idiot! Why did you change your number and your address? Without telling me, how could you?"

Erza of course, could not answer her question, and Mirajane slapped a hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry, Erza. I…I forgot."

"No, Mira, I'm the one who should be sorry. I…I've avoided you for so long, and I don't even know why. I only know that you're happily married with Laxus, and I had been there during your wedding…but the details after that were not filed anymore in my journal."

"It doesn't matter anymore, because you're here now." Mirajane said gently, pulling her towards the table by the window and prompting her to sit down. Jellal decided he should leave them alone for some private moments, and left the restaurant to sit outside.

"Erza, who's that?" Mirajane asked in curious as she looked at the blue-haired young man sitting outside the restaurant, browsing through a book in his hand.

"Jellal. He's my neighbour." Erza replied, following her friend's gaze outside. "According to my journal, he's been really helpful to me lately. I don't remember exactly, but I feel it in my heart."

"If that's the case, then you shouldn't let him go. Ever." Mirajane teased, and Erza could feel her cheeks burning with embarrassment suddenly. What was Mira implying?

"We're just…friends."

"Whatever you say, Erza."

That got Erza thinking though, after saying goodbye two hours later to Mira and walking back home with Jellal. Mira's words rang continuously in her mind, and she pushed them away, only to have them come back several seconds after. She stole glances at him from the corner of her eyes, wondering why he was silent. She wished she was good at making up a conversation, but in reality, she had nothing to say too.

In that silence though, Erza could almost hear their hearts beat in unison.

* * *

**a/n:** thanks for reading, following and reviewing! I really do appreciate all of them feedbacks, especially. :D


	3. Chapter 3

**3.**

_warning: angst ahead._

* * *

"Do you want to watch a movie?" Jellal had asked her out of random one evening when she returned home from work. Apparently he had been waiting for her in the lobby of their apartment, and when he saw her, his face split into a bright grin.

"Sure," Erza had replied with a smile. She hadn't seen him that morning, but all the entries in her journal made him to be no stranger in her head. "You're Jellal right?"

"The one and only." He laughed. "I'll wait for you here, be sure to come back in…how long do you need to get ready?"

Erza held his hand—she was surprised at her boldness, but did not question it—and dragged him slowly towards the elevator. "Don't wait here, wait at my place."

It was an instinct. Erza couldn't explain it even if she wanted to. She just felt it was right to do what she had just done. Maybe it was because of the lonely life Erza had lived for far too long. Maybe it was because of all the entries she had read which explained how amazing Jellal was as a friend—but she has never felt this way before. Jellal…just seeing his face made her heart do somersaults and made her pulse race twice faster.

She figured that it was normal to feel that way, in the presence of a new friend. Erza did not know that she was slowly but surely falling in love with him.

* * *

Their first kiss happened a week after that, and it was uncalled for. But it happened anyway, and it ended just as quickly as it started. Wanting to peek into her entries, Jellal had snatched Erza's journal to see what she had wrote about him, just to tease her, and Erza had relentlessly tried to snatch back her journal.

"Give it back, Jellal!" She has turned nearly as red as her hair by now, and Jellal laughed at her flustered face. "Nope. Oh, what is this? _You have a new neighbour_—"

Erza grew even redder as she jumped with all her might, her arm outstretched just as her fingers curled over the bind of her journal…

But he was too tall for her, and even though she has grabbed hold of her journal, Erza eventually tripped on her own feet and brought him down with her in an instant. Their lips brushed lightly against each other as a result from the impact, and they both sprang apart like springs, both faces flushed as they stammered to apologize.

Jellal made up an excuse to leave while stuttering, and Erza remained as pink as she had when her lips touched Jellal's earlier. After he left, Erza reached for her journal on the floor, and whilst contemplating, wrote down what has happened. She made sure that she didn't leave out any important details, and by the time she finished writing it, she could feel her face glowing even redder.

Erza goes to bed early that night, still embarrassed over the accidental kiss. Every time she almost falls into slumber though, Erza wakes up at the image of her leaning down purposely to kiss Jellal.

* * *

It was the forty-eighth day they had spent with one another when they had their first fight.

Erza did not know exactly _how _the fight started, but the next thing she knew, she was yelling at him and he was yelling at her too. What had triggered the fight, she had no idea. All she knew was that every word Jellal was shouting at her at the moment hurt like knives slicing through her skin.

"Why are you so angry today?" She yelled, not understanding why Jellal was acting the way he was. "What did I do to make you so angry?"

"It's not you, Erza." He yelled back in return. "It's me, okay. It's not your problem, it's mine. So stop bothering me and go away!"

For the first time in all their time spent with each other, even if Erza had no recognition or memory of such a thing ever happening, Jellal pushed her out from his house and slammed the door into her face.

Erza cried herself to sleep that night.

* * *

_Jellal has not talked to us for three days. Maybe you should visit him today to ask for an explanation? –Erza_

* * *

_Jellal did not answer the door yesterday. You should try again, today. –Erza_

* * *

_Be more persistent, Erza. We need to know why Jellal is acting this way. – Erza_

* * *

Five days. It took five days for Jellal to finally respond to Erza's persistent knocks on his door. When he opened his door, Erza almost couldn't recognize the joyous young man in her phone—the bright smile he was portraying in his picture was replaced with that of a frown, dark circles under his eyes, hair that hasn't been combed for days. "What do you want, Erza?" He asked rather coldly, and Erza found herself trembling nervously.

Has he finally gotten tired of her? Erza thought to herself. She did not remember what has happened, but from her journal, she knew that it was important that she met with him to ask him why he was suddenly giving her the cold treatment. "I wanted to know how you were doing." She went with the safest answer she could think of.

There was a pause, a hesitant moment before Jellal opened his door wide enough for her to enter. "You don't even remember me, do you?"

"I…I know you are my neighbour, Jellal. And I know we are close friends, and you're very helpful." Erza recited from what she has read from her journal.

"Good." Jellal answered, and Erza raised her eyebrow in surprise. What did he meant when he said that? Why was it good? "If that's the only details you know, then I'm glad." He said softly, his face facing the ground as he stands a distance from the scarlet-haired young lady.

Erza took a step tentatively towards him. "What happened, Jellal? Why are you avoiding me?"

Jellal said nothing for a while, but Erza waited for him patiently. If he had been patient with her all these while, then she should too, now. "If you were to remove me from your journal, chances that you won't remember me at all the next day right?"

Stunned, Erza's eyes widen as she found a lump latching itself on her throat.

"I mean, you're only remembering me each day because I'm in your journal, right?"

"I…yes," Erza replied finally, but she felt her heart racing as she did so. Why was her heart beating so fast, that she did not know. But she _did _know that what Jellal was suggesting is something she doesn't ever want to do. "Why are you asking this? Jellal, what's wrong?" She took another step forward, her hand reaching out by itself to touch Jellal's shoulder, but he flinched away at the contact.

Erza felt daggers in her heart when Jellal moved a step away from her. She did not know why, but tears were starting to form on her eyelids and they were threatening to fall. "W-why are you avoiding me, what have I done?"

This was all too sudden. The entry in her journal before the day they fought suggested that they had a really great time together strolling by the beach and whatnot. Then came the next day and everything became the complete opposite instead. Erza wished she had memories of that day in her mind at the moment, but she didn't, and all she could depend on was her journal and Jellal's own explanation. "If you can just tell me what I did wrong…"

She was sobbing by now, as silently as she could. Erza may not have genuine memories of their moments spent together in her mind, but she did know—from the way her heart was aching—that Jellal was_ important_ to her. But was she equally as important to him too?

If Jellal had known that she was crying, he did not show any indication. Instead, he opened the door and sighed—a hint for Erza to leave. When he remained silent, Erza took her leave, knowing that she wouldn't be able to get anything from him tonight. She wonders if she should just give up trying all together; after all, it wasn't as if she would be remembering what has happened by the time she wakes up tomorrow. It would be so easy: to let go, to not write anything in her journal, to pretend as if none of these had happened.

But Erza couldn't bring herself to do so. Jellal had been so helpful to her, and to throw away their friendship would mean to throw away the mutual trust and affection she had for him. It was all too confusing for her understanding. One minute they were fine, and the next, everything went downhill. The only explanation Erza could think of is that perhaps, just perhaps, jJellal has reached his limits? Would that be the reason for him to act this way?

"Good night, Erza."

As the door closes behind her, Erza could feel her heart sinking. She was confused over such feeling though. People come and leave all the time. It didn't require full memory power for her to know this. So why was she being like this?

Erza entered her unit and walked towards her bedroom. On the bed lies her faithful journal. She flipped through the pages, reliving each memory through words, and finally reaching an empty page. Erza reached for a pen, and began to write.

She left out the part where Jellal had ignored her, where she had actually cried in front of him when he did so. Instead, she wrote only three words regarding her neighbour on the last sentence of her entry.

_Try again tomorrow._

* * *

Jellal felt like punching himself over and over again. It was after Erza had left when he sank into his knees and slammed his fist against the tiled floor in frustration. It hurts. It _bloody _hurts. To treat Erza like this, it _hurts_. The angry tears came after that as he recalled the expression of pain plastered on Erza's face when she left. He couldn't get over the mixed expression she has had on her face; a mask of betrayal, hurt and sadness—it was all because of him.

Stupid, idiotic him. For trying to protect her, he ended up hurting her even more.

It was agonizing; he wished she knew, all the avoidance and the ignorance of Erza's presence. If she could only know how much Jellal wanted to spend time with her and to hold her in his arms and to tell her that _he loves her. _Since the moment he met her, Jellal already knew. He was willing to wait for her to recover—it may not even happen, but he was willing. Even if she did not recover, he was purely contented to be able to be with her.

He had been willing. No matter how long it took, he was willing to spend his life trying.

But _time _will not be willing to wait for him.

* * *

Erza returned home from work to find the lean figure of her neighbour against her door. Her eyes widen in shock when their eyes met, and she hurried her steps towards him. "Jellal, right?" She had read enough in her entries to know that Jellal had been avoiding her for a week, so why was he here and waiting for her now?

"Can we talk?" He asked rather hoarsely, as if he had just awoken and had not drunk anything for the past hours. There were dark circles under his eyes, Erza noticed, and his hair was combed hastily with the motive to _look _neat. His hair was not neat at all.

"Sure." She nodded and quickly invited him in.

They stood in silence for a moment, with Jellal looking at the ground and Erza looking at him in hope to figure her friend out. Erza thought she knew Jellal well from all the details she had written about him in her journal. But as she stared at the blue-haired man in front of her, all silent and somewhat depressed, Erza didn't think that she knew him at all.

With much effort though, Erza moved from her spot so that she was now standing in front of him. She reached out and brushed his hair away from his eyes, wanting him to look at her and tell her what's wrong. "Jellal…what happened?"

Her heart skipped a beat when their eyes met, and she could faintly make out the compassion in his eyes. There was something he was keeping from her, but _what_? Erza placed her hands gently against his cheeks, afraid that he would look away if she didn't. "If you could just tell me what happe—"

There was a rush of electricity when suddenly, Jellal has her against her door, one hand around her waist and another on the nape of her neck as he pressed his lips firmly on hers.

Erza figured she has gone mad when she reciprocated the kiss, her lips parting willingly, her hands around his neck as she pulled him closer to deepen the kiss. She could feel explosions in her chest as their mouths moved with synchronization, and she could taste the bitter feeling of alcohol on his lips. Erza found her hand tangled with his blue tresses…just as Jellal pulled apart from her.

He was breathing heavily when he ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Shit. _Fuck." _Jellal darted a quick look at the blushing female in front of him, and mentally slapped himself a few times. "I'm so sorry. I'm so, so,_ so_ sorry. That wasn't supposed to happen! What was I _thinking_?"

Erza was silent. She looked at Jellal who was still sputtering nonsense and apologies, and when a strand of hair fell and covered half her vision, she left it there so that he wouldn't see her blushing face. "That wasn't what I came to talk to you about, I just had this urge and I didn't control myself and I can't believe I—"

"It's okay, Jellal." She interrupted, cutting him mid-sentence. "It's okay. It happened, you don't have to apologize."

It was Jellal's turn to be silent, his eyes looking anywhere but at the red-head.

"Are you alright?" Erza asked softly, tentatively taking a step forward. Jellal, with his head still facing the open space beside him instead of the female, shook his head a few times.

"Why didn't you push me away?"

Erza found herself unable to answer his question, and that made the man even more frustrated. "I don't understand. Why didn't you push me away? Am I not a stranger to you?"

"You're not." Erza replied firmly, her hands reaching out to touch the sides of his head. She turned his head gently so that he was now looking at her, and she shook her head. "You're not a stranger to me, Jellal."

"Is it because I am in your journal? Is it because you read about me this morning?" Jellal took a step back and turned away—as if it was too painful to look at Erza.

"I don't think it's just because I wrote about you." Erza replied after a pause, ignoring the loud poundings of her heart. "I think there's more to that."

"What do you mean?" Jellal asked in a tired way, as if he has lost all energy to function properly. _Why did I kiss her? _His mind was on repeat and it was tiring. It would have been alright before this, but now that he _knows _and everything has changed_, _making such was irrational _and_ selfish.

"I think…" Erza took a deep breath as she pushed herself to say the words she had not say or hear of in a very long time. The emotions from her heart, the way it was reacting to Jellal was enough to tell her that she was not wrong about this. "I love you, Jellal."

Jellal could feel his own heart doubling in speed, sweat rolling down his face as his mind exploded into incoherent words. The shock lasted only a few seconds though, as Jellal quickly recomposed himself. From the outside, it is as though Jellal was unaffected by the confession, and Erza could feel her emotions tumbling down in disappointment. "I love you." She whispered again, this time a lot softer than before, and she was no longer looking at him.

"But," The blue-haired man had prepared himself for another round of this, and this time, he appeared even more unfazed by the second confession. "Will you be able to tell me that tomorrow?"

Erza was taken aback at his reply. Not quite sure what to say, and not daring to promise him anything, Erza replied in the safest way she could think of; "I...can write it down—"

Jellal shook his head slowly, a weak smile on his lips. "Not all feelings can be conveyed through words, Erza. You of all people should know better." He motioned her towards her couch before making his own way there and sitting down. "I think…it is time we part ways."

If Erza had been just another girl, Jellal would have expected an outburst of tears and screams of _what is wrong with you, I just confessed to you and this is what you're telling me _but Erza wasn't just another girl. She complied and sat down beside him with a distance between the both of them. Jellal's hands shook, and he had to clamp both of his palms together to avoid Erza from seeing how nervous he was.

"Are you saying this is goodbye?" Erza asked, staring ahead. Jellal nodded, and Erza's heart broke. She figured he has had enough of her, and that he was tired. She didn't blame him for wanting to leave; she was indeed a pain in the neck, what with not being able to remember.

"I'm sorry, Erza." Jellal could only apologize. He wished he did not have to do this, but he had no choice.

"Don't be silly." Erza laughed softly, and it took everything Jellal had to will himself not to give in, not to hold her in his arms and tell her everything's alright and will be alright, that he will always be there for her. He bit his lower lip so hard he could taste the saltiness of his own blood.

"You've stuck around for so long, it's time for you to go. I get it."

_It's not like that, _Jellal wanted to cry out. _It isn't because of you I'm leaving, it has nothing to do with you, goddammit—_

Instead, he merely nodded.

"Thank you, Jellal. For everything." Erza said as optimistic as she could, in fear that if she lowered her guard down just a little bit, she would crumble under his presence. "Can I ask you a favour, though?"

Jellal hesitated a little bit. "Sure."

"Can you stay until I fall asleep?" She could feel the tears coming now, but she kept the smile on her face. "At least then, tomorrow, when I wake up, I won't remember anything. The journal is on my bed, but I can't bring myself to write today, and I…I…" Erza was choking back her own tears now and Jellal finally gave in and pulled her into an embrace. This was the least he could do for her. He caressed her back gently, his hand touching her soft red hair.

Jellal wished time would stop for them now. He wished he could stay in this position forever.

* * *

That night, when Erza had fallen to sleep on his shoulder, Jellal picked her up gently and tucked her into her bed comfortably. He studied her sleeping features, and softened at how vulnerable and innocent she looked. It almost made him regret for hurting her earlier, and he gritted his teeth at how pathetic he was at the moment. Shaking his head, his eyes landed on the journal she has mentioned earlier.

Jellal took the journal beside her pillow, walked towards the board by the door and removed the sole pink note on it. He took her phone from her bag, browsed through her gallery and selected several pictures in her album. His finger hovered above the recycle bin on the screen, a lump forming in his throat. Closing his eyes, he pressed the icon and effectively deleted all pictures of him and them.

As he walked into Erza's living room, Jellal flipped through the entries and finally found the one he was searching for.

It may be a selfish thing for him to do, but Jellal had no choice—he was doing this for Erza's sake. Slowly, but relentlessly, Jellal tore the page that began it all: the day he encountered Erza near two months back. He could feel his hand trembling as he tore pages after pages, anything which contained his name in it. Jellal didn't even dared to look at what Erza had wrote about him, in fear that he might stop what he was doing. That simply wouldn't do.

"Please forgive me," He mumbled, his heart breaking apart like the pages he was tearing out. "This is the only way for you to forget about me."

When Jellal was done, he placed the journal back on its rightful place and walked across Erza's room to place a new journal he had bought earlier on her desk. He made his way back towards the sleeping figure of Erza, and felt a tear roll down his cheek. Hesitantly, he leaned down and planted a lingering kiss on the crown of her forehead, savouring the scent of her hair, the feel of her skin on his lips.

"_I love you too, Erza."_

* * *

**a/n:** sorry to drop such a huge _angst_ bomb so suddenly. This fic was originally supposed to only be a one-shot but I sorta got carried away. So what happened to Jellal that he had to push Erza away so suddenly? Any guesses? I did drop some subtle (or maybe not so subtle) hints in this chapter...but anyway it will all be explained later on, so no worries! Also, I do know that there's some parts where Erza doesn't seem like the Erza we all know in Fairy Tail (the badass awesome chick), but I do hope you would still keep an open mind, since this is an AU and Erza practically loses memories all the time. She can't afford to be as badass as she is in Fairy Tail, so I'm sorry T_T

I will post another chapter sometime soon, and then the Epilogue will come after that and this story will come to an end. Thank you so much for your support so far, I really do appreciate it. Reviews are appreciated, as always. :)


	4. Chapter 4

**4.**

* * *

The next morning, Erza was shocked when she flipped through her journal, only to find a massive amount of pages being removed rather forcefully from the bind. She was trying to rake her mind for what that might have triggered this, but she couldn't find anything. The last entry dated the 11th of February told her that everything had been normal, and that nothing extraordinary had happened.

Erza was puzzled though, as she stared at the note on an empty page. The handwriting on the post-it note was unfamiliar, and Erza grew even more surprised at the thought of letting someone _read_ her journal.

_Today is the 14__th__ of April, 2014. You had to tear pages out because there was something you shouldn't remember. It's not important to remember, anyway. There's a new journal on your desk, you should use that to write your entries starting today. Don't look for your missing pages, they're gone. Take care._

_Something of two months that wasn't worth remembering?_ Erza was speechless as she walked towards her desk and indeed, found a new journal lying atop. _What was it that I shouldn't remember?_

Erza sat on her chair, staring at her two journals in confusion. This was too much information for her to digest in a morning—her with anterosomething amnesia, and then two months worth of entries that had been removed, and a note which asked of her to use the new journal…

"What on earth happened yesterday?" Erza asked out loud, stunned.

* * *

"Erza! Watch out for the—" Lucy shrieked at the red-head's direction but the sound of plates breaking as they hit the ground echoes around the four walls of Fairy Tail café. "—plates." She finished lamely with a sigh before rushing over to help her co-worker. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Erza replied hastily, her expression apologetic. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what's up with me today."

Natsu appeared in a split second with a broom and dustpan. He swept the broken shards swiftly, throwing a glance of concern towards Erza. "You're really clumsy today." He said, and Lucy shoved him away roughly and chided him about how he should _learn when to speak and not to speak for goodness sake. _"So umm…" Lucy diverted her attention back towards the moody looking female beside her. "Do you need anything? Water perhaps? Maybe you should sit down for a bit."

Erza waved her left hand lazily. "I'm alright. Just—"

"Dazed and confused." The voice belonging to Cana was heard and Lucy scrambled back to what she was doing before. "Erza, go home. You need to rest." The brunette gently said as she touched Erza by the arm and steered her towards the entrance. "Today's a rough day, huh?"

There's an underlying meaning behind Cana's sentence, and Erza knows it. Cana seemed to understand though, which was a relief for Erza's part. "Am I always like this?" She whispered softly, her eyes meeting Cana's briefly.

"You have your days." The brunette replied with a shrug, but smiled a second later. "It's okay, don't worry about it. It's just a few plates. Natsu has broken way more, if it makes you any better."

Erza forced a smile as she glanced around the few customers in the café. It was three in the afternoon, where lunch hour ended about an hour ago. The café was no longer bustling with customers and noise. "Will Lucy and Natsu be fine without me?"

"They'll be alright, Erza. Plus Juvia and Evergreen will be coming soon for their shifts." Cana assured the red-head as much as she could before pushing her out of the door. "Go home, Erza. You deserve this break."

* * *

Erza arrived at her apartment fifteen minutes later, and frowned when she saw the yellow piece of paper stuck on the elevator. The words 'OUT OF ORDER' glared at her as she heaved a sigh. She proceeded towards the stairs and began to climb one step at a time, slowly and taking her time. At each steps, her thoughts flew to the confusion she has met with this morning—her missing entries worth two months of her memories. Seriously, what happened? What was so unimportant that she had to remove the memories entirely from her journal?

She was at the fourth floor when footsteps were heard from the stairs above. Erza kept her head down, her hair covering her face as she took another step forward. The footsteps gradually grew louder, until Erza realized whoever they belonged to was standing just few steps away from her.

The footsteps stopped.

Erza looked up and saw a stranger looking at her with an expression she could not comprehend—was that a mixture of shock, relief, happiness…and sadness at the same time? The stranger had blue hair and a strange tattoo on his face, but before she could judge him any further, Erza shook her head and mentally chided herself.

Who was she to judge him when she herself wasn't perfect?

She took another step forward, and realized that the man had not moved an inch. Erza glanced at him and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, but not before feeling a sense of security around this stranger. _He's a nice guy_, an inner voice told Erza, and she frowned. _How would you know, Erza?_

"Hi." She lamely said in the end, a thin smile on her lips.

"Hi." He replied back softly, but he did not smile back.

The stranger took a step down just as Erza took a step up.

Something about his voice made Erza tremble in the knees slightly. She did not know why, but she could feel goosebumps riding up her arms when their shoulders brushed past each other. Her heart skipped a beat, and Erza turned around to say something. The stranger, however, proceeded down the steps and did not stop to look behind.

"Wait, have I—" She hesitated for a moment, and eventually screwed her mouth shut when the blue-haired man disappeared into the flight of stairs below the stairs she now stood alone.

_Who is that guy?_

* * *

Erza woke up to the sunlight streaming through the windows.

Subconsciously, her hand reached out for the journal beside her head and flipped open to the first page. It was the only page written, and Erza figured the journal was new. The note attached on the front of the journal has explained part of the emptiness she feels in her mind at the moment—that she was suffering from a type of amnesia called anterograde amnesia, and it was impossible for her to retain new memories.

The first page tells of what has happened the day before. Erza cringed at how she screwed up in her work yesterday, knowing immediately that she had to apologize properly to Cana when she sees her. She froze on her position at the sudden thought that had invaded her mind.

"Cana?" She muttered under her breath as she glanced into her journal again. There was no Cana in her entry yesterday, and she frowned even harder at the sudden random thought. "Why must I apologize to Cana?"

Erza found out later through her board that Cana is her employer, and she marveled at how she had subconsciously remembered her at the thought of work just now.

There was also a sentence in her entry which told her that she met a stranger with blue hair yesterday. It did not quite concern her, but Yesterday Erza thought she should just pen him down since there was something she did not quite place about him in her mind.

_The stranger has blue hair. And for some unknown reasons, I felt…something…weird when we saw him yesterday. If you see him again today, try to look out for any weird tingling feeling you might feel. –Erza_

* * *

Jellal sat on the couch in his living room, alone with his own thoughts as he replayed the scene which had happened yesterday.

It was unintended, to meet with Erza again after what he has done to her. He could feel himself shaking with nervousness when he saw her and she saw him on the stair—he was glad that she was alright. Jellal could not push away the expression Erza had on her face when she saw him though. There was confusion momentarily, like when you meet a stranger, but then there was also warmth in her eyes; something that threw Jellal off guard. She initiated the greeting, and Jellal remembered forcing himself to mumble out a reply.

He also remembered that he had rushed downstairs, only to have Erza stay rooted on her spot. He wasn't sure if his ears were deceiving him, but he definitely heard her saying something to him. _This shouldn't be happening,_ Jellal thought, especially since he was supposed to be a stranger in her eyes.

Jellal glanced warily at the few boxes of his belongings by the door. If seeing him could cause Erza to trigger unwanted feelings, then making this decision was definitely right. He reminisced the time they had spent with each other, and Jellal could feel his heart aching at each of those memories. The ache in his heart, Jellal concluded, will always be something he would never forget.

* * *

Erza did not see Jellal again.

* * *

_(Two weeks later)_

"Hey, Erza. Where's Jellal? You haven't been bringing him here lately." Lucy asked warmly as she arranged the chairs on a table near the counter. "Yeah, did something happen to him?" Cana joined in the conversation, raising a brow in curiosity. Indeed, it has been a while since she last brought the blue-haired man to the café.

"Is he o—" Lucy stopped herself in mid-air when she saw the look on Erza's face; a hint of surprise. Cana's smile faded slowly as she exchanged glances with the blond worker beside. She could see that the scarlet-haired lady in front of her was just staring at her in confusion, which Cana knew was _not_ a good sign.

"Who's Jellal?"

There was a moment of silence. No one responded to Erza's question.

And from then onwards, no one in Fairy Tail café brought up his name again.

* * *

Erza had the sudden urge to eat strawberry cake.

As she left her apartment that Sunday morning, she browsed through her old journal for any information she might have written on any bakery which sells good strawberry cakes. She found none, to her dismay.

Erza scratched her chin and fished her phone out from her bag. Maybe she should call Mirajane…or Cana…or Lucy. They should know a bakery around here which could satisfy her sudden sweet craving. Before she could dial any of their numbers though, Erza pocketed her phone back and shook her head. "No. I got this. There must be a bakery that I know of somewhere in my head." She muttered to herself as she closed her eyes to think. "Come on, Erza. You couldn't have survived two years without eating strawberry cakes, right? Think!"

It wasn't a surprise that by the time Erza opened her eyes, she was already walking towards a direction she was unfamiliar—yet familiar—with. She tried not to think too much and just let her subconscious mind to take her to her destination. Her optimism was proven to be correct when she finally stopped walking and saw the huge signboard which said "Fiore Bakery" followed by another banner below, "The best bakery in town!"

Excited, Erza walked in and the immediate ambience of the bakery filled the air. She smiled at the waft of fresh bread and cookies, before lining up at the counter to order her much desired strawberry cake. When it was her turn, the cashier smiled brightly at her. "Hi! The usual, right?"

Slightly stunned, but trying not to overreact, Erza nodded. "Yes, please."

As the cashier punched in her order, Erza noticed that she was looking behind, and then to Erza's left and right, before frowning. "Is there something wrong?"

Levy jumped at the sudden question, quickly shaking her head. "Nothing's wrong, miss. It's just that…you didn't bring your friend with you today."

Erza raised an eyebrow. Friend? What friend? "Umm…yeah." She paid for her cake, and Levy merely smiled as she gave Erza a cute box containing her dessert. "Enjoy your cakes!"

"Thank you." Erza nodded with a smile and took the box. She moved to the corner and opened the box, the strawberry cake now looking at her as she sighed in relief. Of course it'll be strawberry cake. There wouldn't be any other dessert Erza would order now, would it?

And then Erza noticed another cake beside her own; a red velvet slice. Puzzled, Erza wanted to return to the counter to clarify, but she stopped herself when she remembered when the cashier had told her. Erza glanced at the red velvet cake again and frowned.

_Who was this friend of hers who likes red velvet cake?_

Of course, she never got her answer.

* * *

**a/n**: I will update the Epilogue probably tomorrow, and then this fic would come to an end. I sincerely thank every followers/reviewers who gave this fic a chance! Thank you very much, I really appreciate it.


	5. Epilogue

_**Epilogue.**_

* * *

"_Erza is like a canvas; pure, clean, innocent. _

_If someone were to spill even a drop of ink on the canvas, it spreads and ruins the clarity and the pureness of it._

_The stain stays, and no matter how much you wash it, it will not fully go away."_

"_But—"_

"_Don't you get it, Mirajane? I _**am**_ the ink."_

"Mira? Earth to Mirajane!"

"Huh?" Mirajane snapped out from her trance at the callings of her name. Her vision slowly came back to reality as she saw her best friend looking at her intently from the seat opposite her. "Yes, Erza? Sorry, I was thinking of something." _How did I go from reading the menu to…_

"Are you thinking about someone?"

Mirajane could feel a lump in her throat. She looked at how oblivious Erza was, and felt a pang of sadness in her heart. "…yes."

"Oh…who? Your husband?"

"No, not Laxus. Just...someone great." Mira looked away when she felt her eyes burning with tears. A few weeks ago, Mirajane had been surprised to find the blue-haired young man on her doorstep. She invited him in, of course, but was presented with a predicament when she realized she hardly even know this guy. They talked for a while, with Jellal telling her all that he has done for Erza, and sought no compliments from her best friend as that wasn't the reason for his visit that day. By the time he was done telling his intention of visiting Mirajane, she was already in tears. "Someone really, really great."

Erza was startled at the sudden change of emotion. She reached for the tissue on the table and handed it to her best friend. "Sorry, Mira. Here, use this…"

"Thanks, Erza." Mirajane took the tissue and dabbed her eyes gently. Then, she smiled as brightly as she could. "Okay, let's get back to ordering!"

They both looked into the menu silently, before Erza cleared her throat. Mirajane looked up, sensing that something was bothering her scarlet-haired friend. "Yes, Erza? Is there something you want to say?"

"That person…" Erza began slowly as she watched the way Mirajane's face softened. "Where is that person now?"

There was a pause before Mirajane placed her menu down. "That person's name is Jellal." She looked at Erza, trying to decipher if she knew who she was talking about. At the mention of his name, something stirred in Erza, but it was not enough for her to know _what_.

Mirajane shook her head mentally, knowing that it was impossible for Erza to know of Jellal's identity—not after what he had done to make sure she forgot about his existence completely. "He's in a better place now." She answered somberly and remembered _his_ wish for her to take good care of her best friend now that he was gone.

Erza nodded understandingly. "That's…a shame."

Mirajane had to calm herself down so to not explode her true feelings about this whole _damned_ situation to the oblivious female sitting opposite of her. To avoid herself from spewing unnecessary things, Mirajane merely nodded. Erza got back into looking at her menu after that, and Mirajane sighed mentally. She looked at the food on the menu and found none which seem appealing for her taste today. Slowly, she drifted back to what she had been thinking before Erza interrupted her thoughts…

"_Still, is it right for you remove yourself entirely from Erza's journal? That's preposterous—"_

"_I'm dying, Mirajane."_

"_W-what?"_

"_I was a survivor of cancer a year ago. But apparently I wasn't as lucky as I thought I would be." _

"_Jellal…"_

"_I wanted to protect her, Mirajane. I don't want her to be sad over my death. Knowing that she cannot remember without any reference to my existence, it was only right that I removed all memories of me from Erza's journal. That was why I moved out. I wanted her to be happy. _

_If she reads about me each morning, only to find that I've died…it would break her heart—"_

"And it would break _**my**_ heart." Mirajane whispered softly, wallowing in the last words of Jellal Fernandes.

* * *

"_Are you happy, Erza?"_

_He asks._

"_I am."_

_She answers._

Sunlight drifts into Erza's dreams, shielding her from the image of the man beside her on the beach. One hand hovering above her vision, she squints her eyes for a better look at the guest in her dreams, but he is already moving away from her. The back of his head now against her, Erza makes out the faint colour of blue. She takes a step forward, slips and falls. The wet sand of the beach mutates into the soft white linens of her bed as she stirs.

When Erza opens her eyes, she sees the sunlight streaming in from the windows. She makes a mental note to close the curtains over her windows next time. Her dream lingers.

"_Will you be happy, now?"_

_He whispers._

"_Today, tomorrow, forever, I will be." _

_She laughs._

Erza wonders if she'll be able to see him again in her dreams tonight.

* * *

( the end )

* * *

**a/n:** And that's a wrap! I sincerely hope that all of you enjoyed this short fic, and I honestly cannot thank all of you enough for giving this fic a chance. To those who may think that this story is a bit too fast-paced, I'm really sorry. This was originally intended to be a two-shot at most, but I got carried away while writing and it turned out longer than I expected. Also, I'm not sure if anyone noticed the change in tense from past to present at the last part of the Epilogue; it was supposed to show that that part is happening in the present time, and that although Jellal isn't physically with Erza, he still watches over her in her dreams from time to time. She may not remember who he is, but she somewhat _knows _that he is an important person for her.

I might also write more JeRza fics in the future, this OTP is death to me. Nonetheless I hoped y'all find this entertaining! Thank you very much again :D


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